Cage chickens and ground chickens each have advantages and disadvantages, and the breeding method suitable for large-scale chicken breeding needs to be comprehensively considered according to the actual situation of the farm, resource utilization, economic benefits and animal welfare. Here are the pros and cons of comparing the two farming methods:
Cage chickens:
Advantages:
- Small footprint, suitable for intensive, large-scale farming.
- Easy management and observation of chickens to reduce the risk of disease transmission.
- Chickens have limited range of activities in the cage, high feed conversion rate and low breeding cost.
- It is easy to implement automation equipment and improve breeding efficiency.
Cons: - The living space of chickens is limited, and the animal welfare problem is more prominent.
- High feeding density, difficult air quality control, prone to respiratory diseases.
- The problem of waste disposal and environmental sanitation is more serious.
Ground chickens:
Advantages: - Chickens have larger living space and better animal welfare.
- The disposal of feces is relatively simple and the environmental health is good.
- The breeding density is low, the air circulation is good, which is conducive to the health of chickens.
Cons: - Large land area and low utilization rate of land resources.
- It is relatively difficult to manage and has more labor input.
- Low feed conversion rate and high breeding cost.
- Ground feeding is easy to cause some diseases, such as coccidiosis.
Overall consideration, in China’s large-scale chicken farms, cage chickens are more popular, because it has higher economic benefits and breeding efficiency. However, in recent years, the issue of animal welfare has been increasingly concerned, and some enterprises and farms have begun to try to improve the farming methods, such as the use of stacked cages, three-dimensional farming, etc., in order to balance economic benefits and animal welfare. Ground-raised chickens have certain limitations in large-scale farming, but they still have high application value in small farms and family farming.
In short, when choosing a breeding method suitable for large-scale chicken breeding, it is necessary to take into account economic benefits, animal welfare and environmental protection according to the actual situation and resource conditions. In China, cage chickens are more suitable for large-scale chicken raising needs, but farms also need to continuously optimize breeding techniques to improve animal welfare levels.